No Football. No Life.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Lionel Messi is the best dribbler in the world with no doubt. The ball is stuck on his foot, and he can dribble past defenders very easily. However, when there are lots of defenders, even Messi cannot dribble past them. Therefore, Messi uses simple one-two passes to get past defenders. He basically uses a moving wall to pass the ball and get it back immediately. This is really effective, but it requires extremely accurate short passes. In fact, this is a clip that shows how effective one-two passing is.

If you watch the video you can see that Messi does not dribble at all inside the penalty box. He just uses two players to play the one-two pass and shoots when he sees the gap between the defenders. As you can see, the defenders have no chance at all. It is almost impossible to keep an eye at the player who is moving, when the ball is somewhere else. If Messi decided to dribble past everyone by himself, he would have never scored. The quality of the pass is also amazing. Since the return passes to Messi is so accurate, the defenders cannot do anything about it. If the passes were a little off target, the defenders would kick the ball away.

If the video above was an example of Messi using his teammates who are standing still, this is a video of Messi and Iniesta actually playing the one-two passes while moving.

Again, the passes are so accurate, and the defenders cannot do anything about it. It is just amazing how Messi and Iniesta can play the ball like that in such a tight space. Also, the way how Iniesta flicks the ball up to make a perfect scoring chance is just wonderful. As I mentioned in my last article "Xavi Hernandez's First Touch", first touch is very important to get rid of pressure. In this video, Iniesta shows not only accurate passes, but also a great first touch to give him space to shoot.

Sometimes good dribbling skills can help you past one or two defenders, but one-two passes are the most effective way to get past 'lots' of defenders and actually break down the defence.

Modern football is all about pressure. Whenever you receive the ball, there are always defenders charging you to snatch the ball away. Therefore, first touch is extremely important in football. A bad first touch will slow down the attack or even lose possession of the ball. A good first touch will keep the momentum of the attack while keeping possession of the ball.

First touch is one of the hardest skills to master in football. It is not just about controlling the ball, but it is also about awareness. A good first touch means that you are aware of the situation going around you and be able to move the ball a few seconds earlier than the defenders. Since football nowadays is mostly about pressure, it is important to get rid of the pressure and move to space quickly as possible. This is why the importance of first touch is getting bigger than before.

Xavi Hernandez is the master of first touch. He can control the ball very well even in a tight situation. Xavi is not the best dribbler nor the fastest player, because he does not need to be those kind of players. Just one or two touch, and he has the free space to look for a pass (his passes are extremely accurate as well). His awareness is amazing, and it is because he always looks around before receiving the pass. Therefore, he knows what to do before receiving the ball. This is extremely important as well, because most players(amateurs) panic after receiving the ball, and just lose the ball. If you know what you are going to do, than there is no reason to panic. Therefore, practicing your first touch and awareness can also increase your confidence in a match.

Lastly, this is a video of some great touches and skills of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

It is the perfect start from Arsenal! Laurent Koscielny got sent off, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gibbs, and Sagna all got injured. Great! Our defence will be completely destroyed in the next game since we do not have many defenders left in our squad. Such a good way to start. How can we lose against Aston Villa? Two freaking penalties!! How is that even possible? Oh Arsenal it is so heartbreaking to support you. Every time it turns out to be like this. We had a bad start last season as well, I think we should try to collect some points at the first place not when we are already out of the title race. This is what happens when we fail to buy Luiz Gustavo, Luis Suarez, Higuain, and all the star players who were linked to Arsenal. I am really tired of supporting Arsenal, but I do not want to support another club because Arsenal is my favourite club. Lets wait for Arsene Wenger to show some magic go us. Please.

Friday, August 16, 2013

This is ridiculous. Luiz Gustavo is not coming to Arsenal. How many players did Arsenal miss in the transfer market this summer? Everybody, except for the French striker. Higuain, Luis Suarez, and Luiz Gustavo. Do they even have a plan B to this situation? I hope they have one, but currently it does not seem like they have a plan B. Even Arsene Wenger admitted that they need to add some players to their team since they have a lot of matches next season. How are they going to survive the 2013/14 season without any squad improvements? No trophies again? OK, no titles, but how about the UEFA Champions League spot? Are we going to be able to play in the Champions League in the 2014/15 season? This is so ludicrous of Arsenal. I cannot believe it. Arsenal won't be able to win any trophies next season even if all players are on top form. Other teams have already finished their job to prepare for the next season, and Arsenal just bought one young player. As an Arsenal fan myself, I am extremely disappointed by Arsenal. I will now lower my expectation. We do not need any star players, but can we please at least buy some players? Just buying some decent players will help us a lot rather than buying young players again and again. There is no reason for us to qualify for the Champions League if we are never going to win the tournament. I really want to see Arsenal being such a beast team winning against teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich.